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The Suffolk County Republican Caucus unanimously re-elected Legislator John M. Kennedy, Jr. as leader of the caucus at it’s first regularly scheduled meeting of the year.

Legislator Kennedy said, “I thank my colleagues for the opportunity to serve the Caucus as leader again this year. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the Legislature and the County Executive as we tackle the myriad of challenges facing Suffolk County.”

The Caucus also announced the formation of two task forces indicative of Republican priorities for 2014.

The Republican Task Force on Budget & and Taxation, and The Republican Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Abuse, will be chaired by Legislator Thomas F. Barraga and Legislator Tom Cilmi respectively. The two commented on their respective task forces at a press conference tuesday afternoon.

Barraga said on the Task Force on Budget & Taxation — “The Task Force is looking for new ideas that are well thought out from beginning to end. We are looking for innovative recommendations that will generate new revenues for the County or approaches that will reduce current County expenses while allowing Suffolk County to continue to provide appropriate services to our residents. The Task Force wants to listen, learn and recommend but that can only be achieved with your active participation in the process of government.”

Cilmi had this to say on the Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Abuse — “We are spending tens of millions of dollars on substance abuse prevention and treatment, and on mental illness. Literally thousands of people are working hard to address these issues, yet it seems the problems keep getting worse. Whether it’s homelessness, crime, suicide, drug-related deaths, particularly associated with the heroin epidemic… the effects are far-reaching and painful, impacting families, impacting communities and our economy. The Task Force will seek to evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs on the whole and elicit suggestions on how to make improvements.”

(NEW YORK) — Jerry Seinfeld, Bradley Cooper, Will Ferrell and first lady Michelle Obama are just some of the celebrities on the guest list for Jimmy Fallon’s first week as the new host of NBC’s Tonight Show.

Fallon debuts as host on Monday, Feb. 17, with previously-announced guest appearances by Will Smith and U2.

Seinfeld, Kristen Wiig and Lady Gaga are scheduled to appear on Tuesday, Feb. 18, with Cooper and country singer Tim McGraw stopping by Fallon’s show on Wednesday, Feb. 19. Ferrell, Mrs. Obama and musical guest Arcade Fire will be Fallon’s guests on Thursday, Feb. 20.

The first four nights of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon will air at midnight Eastern time following NBC’s coverage of the Winter Olympics.

Fallon closes out his first week on Friday, Feb. 21, with Justin Timberlake. That show will air in its regular 11:35 p.m. Eastern timeslot.

Fallon and NBC have moved The Tonight Show back to New York after more than 40 years in Los Angeles.

(NEW YORK) — Imagine growing up as an adopted child, and at age 25 getting a Facebook message from a stranger who looks exactly like you.

That’s what happened to Samantha Futerman, an actress living in Los Angeles.

“On February 1st, 2013, I got message on Facebook from a girl in London,” Futerman said. “It said she had seen me in a YouTube video, then after looking my name up online, saw that we were both adopted, and born on the same day, in the same city. When I saw her profile, it was crazy. She looked just like me.”

The girl who had sent the message was Anais Bordier, a French fashion designer in London.

“When I looked at the video, I — it was, like, shocking…,” Bordier said, explaining her reaction to seeing Futerman’s YouTube video. “You can’t imagine that you might have a twin sister somewhere that you don’t know about.”

So she sent the Facebook message. Bordier and Futerman would discover that they were both born in Busan, South Korea.

It begged the question: were they twins who were separated at birth?

They decided to chat via Skype. Both women speak English, although French is Bordier’s first language.

In an interview with ABC’s Good Morning America co-anchor Josh Elliott, Futerman described looking into Bordier’s face and seeing a mirror of her own features.

“It was weird, but I feel like there was a strange calm and comfort as well, and something that I can’t really explain,” she said. “We talked for three hours.”

They shared their life’s stories, talking about baby pictures, allergies, boys and food.

When they met for the first time in London, Bordier poked Futerman’s head to make sure she was real.

The met again in Los Angeles, where they enjoyed the beach, baseball and some In ‘N Out Burger. And they united again in Manhattan.

They had their DNA tested to erase any doubt. The result proved what their faces told them all along: they were sisters.

Bordier said she had always felt as though something was missing in her life. She never knew that, after she and her sister were born, they were each placed in separate foster care agencies and adopted separately.

“I did feel like I missed something,” she said. “I had an imaginary friend when I was a kid. It happens to a lot of kids, but I had an imaginary friend and she was called Anne…I needed that comfort, I guess.”

Suffolk County Police today arrested two Centereach teens that vandalized eight vehicles in Selden and Centereach.

The windows were broken with a BB gun in Selden and Centereach between January 11 and February 8, mostly during evening hours. After a recent incident, a witness observed a red Volvo sedan leaving the scene.

After an investigation by Officers Greg Pranzo and Sal Dabbraccio of the Sixth Precinct Crime Section, the vehicle and suspects were identified. Harold Brame, 17, of 52 Jay Road, Centereach, was charged with four counts of Criminal Mischief 4th Degree. Cisco Serrano, 17, of 77 Eastwood Boulevard, Centereach, was charged with 7 counts of Criminal Mischief 4thDegree.

(BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.) — More than 150 nominees for this year’s Oscars ceremony gathered in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Monday for the Academy’s annual nominees luncheon.

As cliché as it sounds, at least a few of them were happy just to receive a nod. Matthew McConaughey, who is up for best actor for his performance in Dallas Buyers Club, says he hasn’t considered how he’ll celebrate if he wins.

“I’m already in celebration mode. I’m going to enjoy this. This is my first time nominated. And if I ever get nominated again, who knows, but there will never be another first time,” McConaughey said.

Jonah Hill has a similar mind-set, even though he now has two career nominations.

The best supporting actor nominee, for his role in The Wolf of Wall Street, remarked, “The possibility of winning is so insane to me that it seems almost indulgent to write a speech, but I guess…in the one-in-a-billion chance that it would happen so I don’t sound stupid, you know, make sure and thank my mom and everything.”

One of Hill’s fellow nominees in his category, American Hustle actor Bradley Cooper, is in a state of disbelief, too. Apparently, his nomination last year, for Silver Linings Playbook, and his current nod haven’t sunk in yet. Cooper said Monday he kept waiting for someone to take him aside and ask him, “What are you doing here?”

Cooper was disappointed that Tom Hanks was not nominated for his performance in Captain Phillips, as many critics had expected. He opined, “It’s kind of crazy that he’s not. I’d like to hang out with him.”

Cooper’s American Hustle co-star, best supporting actress nominee Amy Adams, was asked at the luncheon whether she’s thought about what she’ll wear on the big night. Her answer: “Sometimes I feel like I am dressing in costume on the red carpet, and this year I want to feel like myself. So I guarantee when I’m on the red carpet this year you can know that’s a dress that I would wear. It’s not a character’s dress.”

(NEW YORK) — Even if you’ve never tried marijuana in your life, you’ve likely experienced one of the consequences of smoking the drug without ever realizing it.

French scientists believe that one common occurrence from getting high called the “munchies,” which means having an insatiable appetite, is related to how unstoned people behave when they’re particularly hungry and smell something delicious.

University of Bordeaux researchers discovered this after injecting mice with THC, the main mind-altering ingredient found in marijuana.

They equate the sensation the mice got with the hunger pangs felt by humans after skipping a meal since the same brain receptors come into play although our brains operate differently.

According to the researchers, when humans go a while without eating, endocannibinoids are produced, which makes things smell better and increases appetite. THC also stimulates the endocannabinoid system.

Scientists view this finding as important since patients undergoing chemotherapy are more inclined to gain an appetite after having smoke marijuana.

(TORONTO) — Adolescent girls who suffer mental illness are much more prone to getting pregnant than their peers without emotional problems.

That’s according to a new study from the Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, which examined live birth rates in 4.5 million females ages 15 to 19 over a 10-year span.

Lead author Dr. Simone Vigod says the group with mental illness was three times as likely to have a child than those girls who don’t display such symptoms as depression, bipolar disorder and other psychotic disorders.

What makes the situation even more frightening for young mothers is that they are at higher risk for pregnancy complications, including preterm birth, poor fetal growth and postpartum depression, Vigod said in her research.

She went on to conclude, “Although we do know some of the risk factors behind why girls with mental health illness may be at increased risk of becoming pregnant, pregnancy prevention programs in most developed countries have not traditionally considered mental health issues.”

(WASHINGTON) — The FBI on Tuesday will announce a new nationwide campaign warning against the dangers of laser strikes on airplanes.

The latest numbers are striking — the highest ever. The Federal Aviation Administration says potentially-blinding lasers were aimed at cockpits nearly 4,000 times last year, prompting the FBI to launch an aggressive plan to try and stop it.

The FBI says it needs the public’s help so it’s announcing for the first time a $10,000 reward to anyone who reports someone who aimed a laser at a plane.

Last year, laser-pointing happened most often in Portland, Ore., Houston and Phoenix.